


No Longer

by Icanloveyoumorethanthis



Series: Doyu *^* [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Fluff, Forests, Hotarubi no Mori e AU, Human Doyoung, M/M, Sad, Sad Ending, Spirits, Ten seems like the bad guy, Time Skips, Yuta is Gin, but he wanted to protect yuta, inspired from anime, spirit Yuta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 04:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17522024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icanloveyoumorethanthis/pseuds/Icanloveyoumorethanthis
Summary: This was inspired by Hotarubi no Mori e//Doyoung never expected that when he got lost in the forest he'd stumble upon a spirit of the woods...





	No Longer

**Author's Note:**

> (This is a remake from a ff i wrote for another fandom. There are only slight differences)  
> Please see the warnings first

Cross posted on [Aff](https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1387728/)

 

**No Longer**

Doyoung was six years old when he first went to that forest. He was staying with his uncle at the countryside for the summer. He had been sick for too long when he was younger and he couldn’t stand the summer heat in the city. His mother was concerned that he would get ill again and thus she insisted on spending his summers there, as it was close to the mountains and it was surrounded by a forest and a big river. The heat wasn’t that bad there, with all the green and the cool breeze.

Still, Doyoung didn’t like it. He had no friends there and everyone and everything seemed different. It wasn’t the same as living in the city. People were coming by the house to meet him, more people than he had ever met in his life. He had spent about two years in the hospital, so he didn’t have time to meet a lot of kids in his age. Because of that, Doyoung tried to be friendlier and open towards everyone. Still, he didn’t behave his usual self as he felt like his mother had abandoned him there. It was the first time he was away from her, and he felt uncomfortable and scared. Plus, the rest of the kids seemed to avoid him. The rumor had gotten around that he was sick and that his illness was easily transmitted. Kids were cruel and Doyoung ended up not having any friends.

So, he spent his days walking around the forest. His uncle was worried about that.

“You can’t go past the fence, never,” he told him one night, when they were eating watermelon in the garden, looking at the starry sky. “That part is for the forest god and his spirits. No human can enter.”

“Why?” Doyoung asked.

“They say that if you go into the sacred forest, you can never find your way back and you will be lost forever in there. The spirits will take you and never let you go.”

“Uncle, there are no such things as spirits and forest gods.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Still, better be safe than sorry.”

Doyoung didn’t believe him. He knew that spirits and nature gods were supernatural beliefs. They were fairytales. He had learned that much at school. His uncle was being silly. And he had to prove him wrong. So, he went into the forest that early morning and climbed up up till the boarders of the sacred forest and he passed the wooden gate into the woods. He half expected that he would feel something coming through him as he passed by, but he didn’t feel anything. He actually observed that apart from the flags and the offerings that had been hanged on brunches around the fence, the forest didn’t really change. The trees stayed the same, the bushes stayed the same, even the pave was still the same.

Doyoung started feeling a little scared. The warnings of his uncle, as absurd as they sounded, had some impact on him and he jumped up to every noise. He convinced himself to go a little further in, just to prove his point.

“Okay, that’s enough,” he finally said, when he just couldn’t take it anymore. He turned around and started walking back. He walked and walked, his legs getting more tired and starting getting hungry. Has it taken him that long to walk there?

Soon, Doyoung had to admit that he was lost. His uncle was right. The forest god had claimed him and now he would never find his way back home. He would never see his mother again, nor his uncle. He would never be in his room again, nor play with his toys.

Doyoung set on the grass and started crying. He was terrified, hungry and thirsty. He should have brought a cell phone with him, but there was no reception in the forest and he doubted that in the forest of the spirits it would have been better.

“Human boy, why are you crying?” someone called and Doyoung looked up. The forest looked the same, except from the long shadows that have been growing. Behind one of the trees, Doyoung spotted a figure. Doyoung got up, wiped his tears of his cheeks and took a better look at the stranger. He was a teenager, with jeans, a plain white t shirt and a summer shirt let loose over it. His hair was silver white with purple hues, but the oddest thing about him was that he was wearing a mask. Not a mask like the one Zorro wore, but more like those that the kids wore at the festivals. It looked wooden though, not plastic, and it had the shape of a white cat.

Doyoung rushed towards him. “A person!” he screamed. “I’m saved!” Doyoung was about to hug him, when the boy stepped aside and Doyoung found himself on the ground, face down.

“Why did you do that?” Doyoung complained, rubbing his ankles in pain.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that, but you can’t touch me,” the boy replied.

“Why not?”

“I’m not a human. I’m a spirit. If you touch my skin, I’ll disappear.”

“That can’t be true!” Doyoung laughed and tried to grab his hand, but the boy danced his way away from his grip.

“I said you mustn’t touch me,” he repeated calmly.

“Come one, seriously?”

“Seriously. Now, you’re lost right? I’ll help you get out of the forest, if you swear that you won’t touch my skin.”

“My mother says that I mustn’t swear.”

“This is important. If I get touched by a human, I will disappear forever.”

“You’ll die?”

“Something like that. I will cease to exist, is more accurate. So, you have to swear that you won’t do it.”

Doyoung pretended to think of it for a second. He liked to pretend that act like those adults did in the TV series he liked to watch. “Okay, I will!”

“Good, then take this end of the stick,” he said and handed him a long brunch. Doyoung hold the other end and they started walking together.

“This is like a date,” Doyoung said, remembering that romantic drama he had watched recently. He spent lots of hours in front of the TV. His mother was raising him all by herself and she was working two jobs to pay for his hospital bills. So, she was hardly at home when Doyoung returned from school. He then watched TV as he was waiting for her shift to finish. He had started when he was in the hospital. Then, he didn’t have much to do, so he watched everything that was on that old TV in his hospital room.

“Why?” the guy asked.

“We are almost holding hands. So this is a date!”

“A non romantic one,” the guy said. He was tall and he seemed to be always calm.

“Here we are,” he said, and pointed ahead. Doyoung could see the wooden gates. From there, he knew how to go back to his uncle’s house.

“Great! We can go home together! I can introduce you to my uncle! He will award you for helping me!”

“I’m sorry. But, I can’t leave the forest,” the guy said.

“You can’t?”

“I’m a spirit, remember?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Doyoung admitted. “I’ll come back tomorrow and bring you the award!”

“No, you can’t come back.”

“But I have to. You saved me. I owe you. I’m Doyoung by the way,” Doyoung said and then realized that he was outside the gate and that the boy wasn’t with him anymore. He turned around and he was nowhere to be seen. Doyoung felt disappointed. He wanted to know at least his name.

“Yuta. My name is Yuta.”

Doyoung smiled and rushed back home.

His aunt threw cold water at him and yelled at him to not ever do that again. It was late at night when he finally found his way back and his uncle was gone looking for him for hours. They thought that he had fallen in the river.

“I’m sorry, auntie. I promise, I won’t do that again,” Doyoung said, as he let her dry him with a big, fluffy towel.

The next morning, Doyoung woke up early. He looked into his room for something to give to Yuta. He didn’t have much here. He had his mother’s picture, his cell phone, clothes and some books, all of which Yuta wouldn’t use. Then, he had his toys. His teddy bear was too precious to him to give him away. But, his kite was perfect. Sure, it was his favorite toy, but he could give it to Yuta to play with.

Doyoung ran to the forest straight after breakfast. He promised his aunt that he won’t go wondering again in order to let him go. Else, she was planning on having him play in the garden for the rest of the summer. As Doyoung neared the gate, he was wondering whether Yuta would be waiting for him or he would not come, because he was a spirit. Then Doyoung would have to leave the kite on the door step and leave. He didn’t dare entering that forest alone again.

But Yuta was there, waiting. Doyoung called him excitedly. Yuta waved back at him. Because he was wearing the mask, Doyoung couldn’t tell whether he was happy or not, as he couldn’t see his face.

“I brought you a gift. This is a precious kite, so don’t lose it.”

“I’ll keep it forever. Thank you.”

“Let’s take a walk!” Doyoung said and entered the forest. With Yuta, he wasn’t afraid to walk in it. He wasn’t afraid of Yuta either. His mother always told him to be careful of strangers and not to talk to them. But Yuta didn’t look like he was dangerous. Doyoung actually thought that they could be friends. He was lonely and maybe Yuta was lonely too.

“Do you have any friends?” he asked him, as they walked quietly between some low bushes.

“I’ve got the animals and the other spirits,” Yuta said.

“Are they like you?”

“The spirits? No. But they can take a human form.”

“Why do you wear a mask?”

“So you would know that I’m a spirit.”

“Where did you find it?”

“The spirits gave it to me.”

“I like you. We are friends now!” Doyoung laughed and run down a small hill. Yuta didn’t say anything. Maybe he was lonely after all. He looked human, so he would want to have humans around. But, because of his course, he couldn’t. Doyoung was careful around him not to touch him. He was afraid that he would disappear and never appear in front of him again. His father had done the same. Because of Doyoung’s illness, he had left and never came back. Doyoung still felt that it was his fault that his father had left and that his mother had to work all day and be tired and sad. So, he didn’t want that to happen to his friend as well.

Doyoung came back again and again. And Yuta was there, waiting for him each and every time. They played games, like hide and seek, flying the kite and throwing rocks in the river. Yuta would tell him stories about the forest and the animals. He showed him their nests and how to recognize plants and forest animals. The animals were calm when Yuta came near them and they let him pet them. Touching them didn’t make him disappear and Doyoung was happy that at least Yuta had the animals. He liked when his mother hugged him and he felt sad for Yuta that he couldn’t have that.

“Where is your mother?”

“I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

“Your father?”

“Same,” Yuta replied. He was always calm and friendly, but sometimes he laughed loudly and happily as well.

“You don’t have any siblings, then,” Doyoung said. Yuta didn’t manage to respond, as a growl sounded from the bushes. Soon, a dark figure appeared, like a shadow between the shadows, only darker.

“Step back,” Yuta said, suddenly alarmed. He looked like he was going to pull Doyoung behind him, but he had stopped himself half way. Because Yuta sounded upset, Doyoung obeyed without any disagreement.

“A human child,” said a smooth voice. “Can I eat it?”

“No, he’s with me. You may not harm him, not you not anyone else,” Yuta said calmly.

“Yuta, you know the risks you’re taking to have a human as a friend. You can’t, you mustn’t,” the voice said again.

“He won’t harm me. He knows that he can’t touch me,” Yuta insisted.

Then, a woos like a sudden riff of the wind came from the trees and the shadow moved. It appeared in front of them in the form of a human. He was a bit shorter than Yuta, with black hair and thin lips and, unlike Yuta, he wasn’t wearing a mask. He had a scary look in his eyes and he looked at Doyoung intensely. Doyoung wanted to grab Yuta’s hand and hide behind him, but he restrained himself from doing so.

“Human boy, if you touch our Yuta’s skin, I will hunt you down and kill you,” he said and Doyoung wanted to start crying from fear.

“That’s enough, Ten, be gone!” Yuta shouted and he shooed him with his hands. Ten gave Doyoung another warning look and melted into the body of a wolf, before running into the forest again.

“Don’t mind him. He is just trying to look out for me,” Yuta assured Doyoung, but Doyoung couldn’t stop thinking about it. He had nightmares for a year after that incident. He thought he was seeing Ten in the shadows of his room and he begged his mother to leave a light on. He often woke up in the middle of the night having just seen a nightmare where Ten had come to eat him. He was picturing him with teeth like an animal, smiling over his bed.

He didn’t tell Yuta of course. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship. The summer was almost over anyway. On his last day, Doyoung promised Yuta that he would come back next year. He made him promise that he would wait for him as well.

 

Doyoung came back the next year and the next year and the year after that. He kept growing and changing, whether Yuta stayed the same. Once, Yuta was lying on the grass, where Doyoung was reading a book he had brought about forest spirits. When Doyoung looked up, he seemed like he was sleeping. His chest was moving up and down calmly and he was motionless. Doyoung moved closer to him, careful not to wake him up. He kneeled over his head. Was Yuta going to disappear if he touched Yuta’s mask? Was he going to disappear if he removed it?

Doyoung held his breath as he placed his fingertips over the mask. As he felt it’s warm surface, he trebled to the touch. But, nothing happened. He then took courage and got a better grip of it. He lifted it slowly, making sure that he wasn’t going to touch Yuta’s skin. Doyoung finally managed to lift it up and take a look at Yuta’s face. He had a youthful one, looking around seventeen or eighteen years old. He had full lips that stood out from his thin face with high cheekbones and sharp jaw line while his white sin radiated like he was made of small crystals. His long eyelashes casted shadows over his cheeks and Doyoung felled compelled to run his fingertips over them. His long white hair looked almost lavender as the sunlight kissed the locks falling over his forehead.

Doyoung had never imagined him looking like that. He knew him now for eight years, eight summers to be exact and he had always connected his face with the mask. Till now, he wasn’t curious about his face.

Yuta’s face grimaced and smiled. He had an angelic smile, Doyoung noted.

“It’s not polite to remove people’s mask while their sleeping,” he said and opened his eyes. His eyes arced like suns in sunset in the color of autumn leaves. He looked both earthy and ethereal; a creature out of summer dreams.

“I’m sorry. Where you sleeping?” Doyoung blushed and gave him back his mask. Yuta rose and set up, taking the mask and replacing it over his face, but before doing so, he let the cool breeze heat his skin, taking all in. Doyoung knew that Yuta loved the forest, every inch of it, every creature, every season. It was his home and they were his family. And Doyoung was his only friend.

 

“I saw what you did,” said a voice from under the darkness of the leaves. It was already night, and Doyoung was returning back home. Doyoung had stopped. He knew that voice, though he hadn’t heard it for a long time now. His nightmares had decreased over time, but his voice brought back all his childhood fears.

Soon, Ten materialized over the shadows and stepped into the moonlight. He hadn’t changed a bit, though now Doyoung was taller than he was when he was six.

“You are getting bolder.”

“Why are you here? This isn’t the spirit’s forest,” Doyoung said.

“I can step out of the boarders. Spirits are not limited only there.”

“But Yuta…”

“Yuta can step out as well. But he’s afraid to be seen. Humans are greedy. And he’s too pure for your world.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You are getting older. You know that time is going to separate you eventually. Just do it first, before it’s too late,” Ten said firmly.

“I won’t hurt him!” Doyoung replied. He was still afraid of him, especially now when he was alone with him, defenseless, in the dark. Yuta wasn’t going to rush there and help him. And he was certain that he was no match for the spirit.

“You may not want to. But you will.”

“Why don’t you let Yuta decide,” Doyoung asked.

“Why are you so strong willed on this? Just do as I say or else…”

Doyoung didn’t stay to listen to the rest. He couldn’t take it anymore; he was terrified and he wasn’t sure what Ten intended to do to him. So, he ran and ran. His lungs were hurting and his legs were on fire, but he could feel Ten in his wolf form at his toe. Doyoung actually had started feeling dizzy. Soon, he started seeing everything in red shades, but he didn’t stop running. Then everything turned black.

Doyoung woke up at the hospital. His mother had came over from the city and she had already packed his things and gotten tickets for them to move straight to the city’s hospital, where Doyoung’s doctor waited for them.

“I’m better now, mom. Really, I just ran too much and that’s why I…”

“We are moving! We can’t risk it!” his mother said. She actually didn’t change her mind, even though Doyoung pleaded for him to stay for at least one day. He needed to say goodbye to Yuta. He couldn’t just leave. But his mother was terrified. She feared that Doyoung was going to relapse again, so Doyoung obeyed and followed her back to the city. He didn’t want to see her sad and he had scared her with his sudden collapse in the forest. Doyoung was informed that he was found the next morning unconscious. His uncle told him that the oddest part was that he was covered with leafs, like someone had created a blanket for him. Doyoung knew that it must have been Yuta’s work.

Doyoung stayed in the hospital for three weeks, but by then it was the end of the summer and school was going to start shortly. His mother didn’t even want to hear him returning to the countryside, even if it was for just one day or two.

So, Doyoung had to wait until next year to see Yuta again. He tried to focus on his studies. His final year was nearing and he had to try and raise his grades. He didn’t know what he was going to study after he finished school, but he thought that he had time. Sometimes he felt like Yuta, a calm force that beat time.

“I do age, you know,” Yuta told him the next summer. Doyoung feared that he would have been angry at him for leaving like that the previous time and had decided not to appear again. His heart was beating fast with anticipation as the days for his summer holidays were nearing. His heart was about to burst, as he was riding the train to his uncle’s place. But he was oddly calm when he set foot in the forest. His heart was starting to beat fast again when he saw Yuta again. He was surprised with himself. He knew Yuta for all these years, and yet, it was the first time he felt that way. He found himself being happy to be with him, or just to see him.

“You don’t seem to change,” Doyoung replied.

Yuta took his mask off. He was doing that more often nowadays.

“How do you know?” he laughed. “I was wearing this mask all along.”

“I know. I have changed a lot since we met. I’m taller and my body is different.”

“You look more like a man than a boy,” Yuta admitted, and Doyoung found himself blushing. He didn’t know that Yuta could see him that way, after knowing him as a kid.

“But you are the same as ever.”

“I age. But I age slower than you.”

“What about that mask?” Doyoung asked. “I used to think that you wore it because you had too, but obviously you can choose not to.”

“That is true. You see, I’m not exactly a spirit. I can’t take another form, like the others can. This is my only one. So, I have to make myself different from a human, so that humans would know that I’m not one of them.”

“Why are you different than the other spirits?”

“I myself can’t remember, but the spirits told me that I was found in the forest when I was a baby. Maybe my human parents had abandoned me there, or I was lost. I was going to die like that on my own, but the spirits took me to the forest god. He made me a spirit, but still, my body is too weak. Because it was made, it’s too fragile. That’s why, if a real human touch my skin, I will vanish and stop existing.”

They remained silent, Doyoung taking in everything that Yuta had just told him. Doyoung could see that Yuta was sad, so he ran to the nearest tree and climbed over the strongest brunch. Yuta observed him quietly from the ground. Doyoung wrapped his legs over the core and hang head down, like a bat. Doyoung waved with his hands and smiled, making goofy faces. Yuta laughed at him and he looked happy again. Doyoung laughed too, but he swing too hard and suddenly he lost control and fell on the ground, face down.

Doyoung groaned and tried to get up. Over him, Yuta was standing, arms hanging in the air. It was like it had happened when Ten had first appeared, when he wanted to get Doyoung out of the way but stopped half way. Doyoung looked at his face. He hadn’t put the mask on yet, and he looked shocked and sad again. He must have been in struggle, trying to save his friend but not being able to because that would mean his own death.

“I’m sorry,” he said, putting on his mask. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. You must promise never to touch me, okay?”

“Okay,” Yuta said. He had his mask on and his voice was calm again, as usual, so Doyoung couldn’t see his actual feelings, but he knew that he still was in pain. Yuta handed him one edge of a brunch and helped him up. All these years, the brunches were used as their sole way of intimacy. Doyoung hadn’t minded before. He found it amusing and funny. But now, he found himself wanting something more.

That winter, Doyoung went often to the library. He wanted to find more about the spirits and their mythology. He wanted to know more about Yuta, about what it was like to be him, to see life through his eyes. Doyoung was now seventeen and their age gap was closing. Their ages were finally catching up, even though their worlds were so far apart.

“You are interested in the old forest folklore?” someone asked, as Doyoung was leaving the library to meet his mom, who was finishing her shift. Soon, a boy from his class caught up with him. Doyoung tried to pin point his face. He had a nice smile and sharp jaw line. He wasn’t one of the athletes nor was he part of Doyoung’s friends. But Doyoung remembered that a boy named Taeyong had transferred a few years ago to their school.

“I’ve seen you at the library reading those books about spirits and myths about them,” the boy added.

“Oh, I just find it interesting,” Doyoung replied. This was the city and Doyoung knew that this wasn’t Yuta’s world. He would be out of place here and he would be considered a superstition, a myth. So, he had chosen long ago to not tell anyone about him, not even his mother.

“I see. I’ve seen you many times reading them and I found it interesting.”

“Do you come to study here?”

“Yes. I want to become a doctor. What are you planning to become?”

“I…I don’t know…” Doyoung admitted.

“Well, you can ask the homeroom teacher to help you if you want,” Taeyong suggested.

“I’ll see to that,” Doyoung said. He thought that he saw a dark shadow between the cars on the street. A cold feeling that Ten was that shadow creped all over him.

“Careful!” Taeyong called and grabbed Doyoung from the arm, swinging him towards him and away from a light post. He had been destructed trying to hunt down ghost and he almost hit it.

“Are you okay?” Taeyong asked, as Doyoung pulled back from him.

“I’m fine. Thank you for that.”

“No problem. Just be careful next time. Its ice season and you’ll slip if you don’t mind your step. Or should I walk with you to school?”

Doyoung didn’t answer. He never had someone asking him to walk to school together. He had friends, but they only hang out at school. His only real friend was Yuta. Hitting it off with Taeyong felt like he was cheating on him.

The summer came and Doyoung climbed the forest hills again, wondering if Yuta will be there. And sure enough, he was waiting for him at the gate, as always.

“How do you know when I’m coming?” Doyoung asked him. “Maybe I will be a day or a week late. Or, I’ll come early.”

“When the weather starts getting warmer, I come every day here and wait. So, even if you are late or early, then I’ll be here anyway,” Yuta replied.

“You know, I’m now a senior. I’m already seventeen and I might have to study and stuff,” Doyoung said, feeling the need to say something as what Yuta had said made his heart race.

“You should start studying. But, I’ll still wait.”

Doyoung remained silent. “You shouldn’t say things like that,” he finally said, feeling his whole face on fire.

Yuta got up and he kneeled in front of Doyoung. He then took his mask off and placed it over Doyoung’s face. The mask was cool and it smelled like the morning moist on the tree leafs. That was Yuta’s smell.

Yuta placed his arms carefully on either side of Doyoung’s body, seeing not to touch him in any way, leaned forward and kissed the mask. Doyoung felt the pressure and the heat of his body and now the smell was even stronger. Doyoung closed his eyes and kissed him back.

“I’m sorry that this is all I can offer,” Yuta said as he pulled away. “But I often find myself wondering, during the time we are apart. I’m wondering what you are doing and how you are. And then I want to go and find you. I have this need to see you and be with you.”

Doyoung smiled. He felt happy, the happiest he had ever been.

“Would you come to the spirit festival with me?”

“The spirit festival?” Doyoung asked.

“It’s like those you human’s do, but held by spirits. I didn’t ask you before because you might have been scared.”

“I’ll go!” Doyoung replied and handed him his mask back. They both smiled to each other and Doyoung knew that he didn’t need more to be happy. He just wanted Yuta to love him. That was enough for him.

Doyoung lied that he was tired and he went to bed early, then sneaked out of his window and rushed to the forest. Yuta was waiting for him as always, but this time, he was the one who looked nervous. Doyoung could see him pacing up and down as he was nearing.

The forest was all light up and music was coming from all around. Soon, they reached an opening that was fashioned into looking like a real festival, with stalls with games, food mercers and dancers and acrobats performing among them. The spirits had taken their human form and they danced around as well, enjoying themselves.

“It looks like a real fair!” Doyoung said, amazed.

“Sometimes, humans get confused and join in,” Yuta added. “Give me your hand?”

“What for?” Doyoung laughed, but gave it to him anyway.

Yuta then wrapped a piece of cloth around it and then matched its other end with his wrist. “So that you won’t get lost,” he said and they both entered the festival.

“It looks like a date,” Doyoung giggled, remembering what he had told Yuta the first day they met.

“No,” Yuta said, like he had replied back then. “It is a date.”

Doyoung felt his heart ready to break into a million pieces. The whole night was like he was in a dream. Everything was magical, the fireworks, the lights, the music, the people, Yuta.

Doyoung lost track of time when Yuta pulled him away from the festival. They walked under the moonlight, the music and noises from the celebrations still in their ears.

“This is the best night of my life!” Doyoung said.

“Mine too,” Yuta added. “You know,” he said, coming into a halt. “There is still one thing I want to do to make this night perfect.”

“What is it?” Doyoung asked. Yuta then took off his mask and leaned down towards Doyoung.

“Yuta, no!” he said, but the boy’s lips already had met his. Doyoung would never forget his first kiss. It was even more magical than that night.

When it ended, Doyoung felt like the whole world was glowing. Then, he realized that actually, the whole world wasn’t glowing, just Yuta. His whole body was turning into sparkly starlight, slowly flowing into the air, like silver dust.

“Ten told me about seeing you at the city. He told me that if we’re together, you can never have a real life.”

“Yuta, no! What did you do!” Doyoung said, among his tears. Yuta pulled him into his arms and Doyoung cried on his shoulder. He was already dissolving, but Doyoung could feel his heart beating.

“Time was going to separate us. And I was going to die one day anyway. But, I wanted to die by your kiss rather than slowly disappear into the shadows of the forest,” Yuta said.

“You can live your life now freely.”

“I don’t want to live without you,” Doyoung cried.

“I will always be with you. I will love you forever,” Yuta breathed and he was gone. Doyoung fell on the ground and he cried till he had no tears left.

When he finally raised himself off the ground, it was already dawn. The spirits had gathered around him, forming a circle. They didn’t look dangerous, rather they were sad. One of them stepped outside the circle and approached Doyoung. It was Ten, who looked different, with his shoulders dropped and dark shadows all around his eyes. He was paler than ever which made him look more like a supernatural creature than ever.

“Come,” he said. “I’ll take you out.”

Doyoung didn’t answer, but followed him pass the circle and into the forest.

“You know that now you must not come into the forest again. It’s dangerous and Yuta won’t be here to protect you or to show you out,” Ten said.

“I won’t,” Doyoung replied. He didn’t have any reason to enter the forest anyway, now that he was gone.

“It was his choice,” Ten added. “He wanted it to be that way.”

“So, it was you that day. I wasn’t going crazy.”

“It was me. I saw everything. Yuta may have lived in the forest, but your place was in the city. And yet, it seemed like it wasn’t. That boy was clearly trying to be your friend. But you pushed him away. He had plans for the future, dreams. But you didn’t. You are a human, not a spirit. You shouldn’t live like one.”

“So, in the end, I killed Yuta.”

“Like I said, it was his choice. He could have just leave you alone and never appear at the gate. But, he was tired of this life. The forest god wanted him for himself and he would never have allowed him to step outside the forest.”

“He should have talked about this with me,” Doyoung said.

“What's done, is done. You should live now for him. Live the life he dreamed of having.”

Ten said that and disappeared. They had reached the gate by then. Doyoung felt his cheeks covered again with tears. But, he forced a smile and walked out of the gate, saying goodbye to the forest and his first love forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this!!!! I'm sorry if there were many mistakes TT.TT  
> Also, as i said before this was a ff i had written a while ago (again) but decided to make it also to a Doyu one as there are so few ff about them. Unfortunately i don't have time to write a new one so i decided that this would be okay too.  
> Thank you again for reading and please tell me how you found this mess >.<


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